Queer Theory

Queer Theory

WMST 402/ SOCI 3 5 Spring 2012 Wednesday 4:30- 7:10 Robinson Hall A101 Jennifer Miller [email protected] Mailbox: JC 240 K Office: Johnson Center, 23 G Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 1:30 – 2:30 Course Description First some context: Queer Theory emerged in the late-1 0s as a critique of the way power works to institutionalize and legitimate certain forms of sexuality while stigmatizing others. Before Queer Theory’s emergence in academia, Gay and Lesbian (GL) Studies began gaining momentum. Whereas GL Studies tends to assume a stable subject of analysis, gays and lesbians, Queer Studies problematizes stable identities. Queer Theory is less invested in “finding” gays and lesbians in history, the arts, or politics, than in understanding the ways identity categories are created and whose interests they serve. This is not to say that the work undertaken in GL Studies is not important- it is, but Queer Theory is a slightly different project. Queer Theory challenges rigid identity categories, sexual norms, and the violence (physical, economic, emotional) that rigid norms justify. Queer Activism arouse in the 1 0s, also prior to Queer Theory, as a reaction to the state’s response to AIDS. We will discuss Queer Theory’s relationship to Gay and Lesbian studies as well as

Queer Activism throughout the semester We begin the semester by developing a basis in Queer Theory To this end, we spend several weeks reading now canonical texts by Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, Gayle Rubin and Leo Bersani Through these readings, we will develop a shared vocabulary that will help us understand the interdisciplinary scholarship that we will explore during the second half of the semester

Assignments Class Participation 20 Students are required to contribute to class discussions, participate in group activities, and complete in-class assignments. The participation grade will include evaluations of in-class assignments (quizzes, free-writes, hand-outs). Reading Responses 50 Students are responsible for producing five 3 - 4 page responses to reading sets. Reading sets include all of the assigned readings from a themed week. The responses should demonstrate a solid understanding of the assigned readings but move beyond mere summary to engage critically with the arguments made, evidence and logic used, and the significance of the readings. Papers must be handed in during class the day the reading set is to be discussed in class. Late papers will not be accepted. Email submissions will not be accepted. Final Paper 30 Students are responsible for producing an -12 page final paper that engages with the assigned readings to answer a question prompt provided at the end of the semester. Papers must be submitted by email at noon on the university scheduled exam day. Papers must be sent (.doc or .docx). Files that cannot be opened will be recorded as a “0”. Late papers will be recorded as a “0”. Plagiarism Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or information from another person without giving that person credit. Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes; a simple listing of books and articles is not sufficient. Student writers are often confused as to what should be cited. Some think that only direct quotations need to be credited. While direct quotations

do need citations, so do paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual information formerly unknown to the writers or which the writers did not discover themselves. Exceptions for this include factual information that can be obtained from a variety of sources, the writers' own insights or findings from their own field research, and what has been termed common knowledge. (Statement of English Department at George Mason University) For further information: http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/plagiarism.htm

Women and Gender Studies at GMU The Women and Gender Studies program offers an interdisciplinary minor to undergraduate students. This is an 1 -credit minor that works well with most majors and can be structured to fit your interests. Feminist scholarship has influenced many disciplines and the minor provides students with the tools necessary to engage with issues of gender, race, sexuality and class in various texts and contexts. The Women and Gender Studies Center is located in the Johnson Center, Room 240K. The Women and Gender Studies Center organizes a variety of lectures, workshops, and activities relevant to campus life throughout the academic year. They also have a collection of over 1000 books relevant to Gender Studies, which students may check out with their George Mason ID card. You can learn about the Women and Gender Studies Minor and the Center at: http://www.gmu.edu/acadexcel/findex.html Diversit Statement Women and Gender Studies seeks to create a learning environment that fosters respect for people across identities. We welcome and value individuals and their differences, including gender expression and identity, race, economic status, sex, sexuality, ethnicity, national origin, first language, religion, age and ability. We encourage all members of the learning environment to engage with the material personally, but to also be open to exploring and learning from experiences different than their own. Course Reading Materials Required Please purchase: Michel Foucault The History of Sexuality Volume One Riki Wilchins Queer Theory, Gender Theory

Nick Krieger Nina Here Nor There My Journey Beyond Gender Recommended Chapters from the following texts are available via e-reserve: Jasbir Puar Terrorist Assemblages Homonationalism in Queer Times David Halperin and Valerie Traub Eds. Gay Shame Robert McRuer Crip Theory Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability Brett Beemyn and Mickey Eliason Eds. Queer Studies A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Anthology Joane Nagel Race, Ethnicity, and Sexuality Intimate Intersections, Forbidden Frontiers Judith Halberstam Female Masculinity Henry Abelove, Michele Aina Barale and David Halperin Eds. The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader Judith Butler Gender Trouble Steven Seidman, Nancy Fischer, and Chet Meeks Introducing the New Sexuality Studies Arnoldo Cruz-Malave and Martin Manalansan Eds. Queer Globalizations Citizenship and the Afterlife of Colonialism Sara Salih The Judith Butler Reader E. Patrick Johnson and Mae Henderson Eds. Black Queer Studies A Critical Anthology Gayle Rubin Deviations A Gayle Rubin Reader Susan Stryker and Stephen Whittle Eds. The Transgender Studies Reader Leo Bersani Homos E-reserve password: _____________ Reading Schedule January 2 : Introduction

Syllabus, Blackboard, E-reserve February 1: Foucault I – Speaking Sex (60 pages) Riki Wilchins “Homosexuality: Foucault and the Politics of Self” ( Theory Gender Theory Michel Foucault The History of Sexuality ( -

-

) in Queer

)

February : Foucault II – Biopolitics (65 pages) Riki Wilchins “Foucault and the Disciplinary Society” ( Theory Michel Foucault The History of Sexuality (

-

-

and

) in Queer Theory Gender -

)

February 15: Sedgwick and Friends (?) – The Closet (65 pages) Eve Sedgwick “Epistemology of the Closet” ( Reader

-

) in The Lesbian and Gay Studies

Marlon Ross “Beyond the Closet as Raceless Paradigm” ( Studies

-

) in Black Queer

Lee Edelman “Tearooms and Sympathy, or, the Epistemology of the Water Closet” ( ) in The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader

–

February 22: Butler – Performativity (55 pages) Riki Wilchins “Butler and the Problem of Identity” ( Theory Esther Newton “Selections from Mother Camp” ( Reader Judith Butler “From Parody to Politics” (

-

-

) in Queer Theory Gender ) in The Transgender Studies

) in Gender Trouble

Judith Butler “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” ( Reader

-

) in The Judith Butler

In-class: Screen Paris is Burning February 2 : Rubin – The Charmed Circle and the Outer Limits (65 pages) Gayle Rubin “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality” ( -

)

in The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader Gayle Rubin “The Leather Menace: Comments on Politics and S/M” ( Deviations A Gayle Rubin Reader

-

) in

In-class: Screen Blood Sisters March : Bersani – Shame and AIDS (

pages)

Leo Bersani “Is the Rectum a Grave?” ( Leo Bersani “The Gay Presence” (

-

-

)

) in Homos

Simon Watney “The Spectacle of AIDS” ( Reader

-

) in The Lesbian and Gay Studies

March 1 : No Class (Spring Break) March 21: Racing Sexuality and Sexualizing Race ( 0 pages) Siobhan Somerville “Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body” ( ) in Queer Studies A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Anthology

-

Joane Nagel Race, Ethnicity, and Sexuality Intimate Intersections, Forbidden Frontiers (excerpts tba) March 2 : Homonationalism ( 0 pages) Jasbir Puar Terrorist Assemblages Homonationalism in Queer Times (excerpts tba) April : Family/Nation (

pages)

Tina Fetna “The Pro-Family Movement” ( Studies

-

) in Introducing the New Sexuality

Cathy Cohen “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?” ( - ) in Black Queer Studies Janet Jakobsen “Can Homosexuals End Western Civilization as We Know It?” ( Queer Globalization Citizenship and the Afterlife of Colonialism April 11: No Class Nick Krieger Nina Here Nor There My Journey Beyond Gender

-

) in

April 1 : Narrating the Self Nick Krieger Nina Here Nor There My Journey Beyond Gender April 2 : Masculinity/Manliness ( 0 pages) Gayle Rubin “Of Catamites and Kings Reflections on Butch, Gender and Boundaries” ( ) Judith Halberstam “Looking Butch: A Rough Guide to Butches on Film” ( Female Masculinity Patrick Califia “Manliness” (

-

-

) in

) in The Transgender Studies Reader

May 2: Queerness and Disability ( 0 pages) Robert McRuer “Compulsory Able-Bodiedness and Queer/Disabled Existence” ( Crip Theory Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability Robert McRuer “Shameful Sites: Locating Queerness and Disability” ( Shame Abby Wilkerson “Slipping” ( Terry Galloway “Tough” (

-

-

) in Gay Shame ) in Gay Shame

Tobin Siebers “Sex, Shame, and Disability Identity” (

-

) in Gay Shame

) in

) in Gay